Nba Draft

The 76ers reached agreement in principle on a two-year, $6 million contract extension with Lavoy Allen on Sunday, the first day of free agency, according to sources with knowledge of the situation. The deal cannot be officially signed until the moratorium on signings is lifted on July 11. Allen, a 23-year-old forward-center from Temple, was the 50th overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft. After averaging 4.1 points and 4.1 rebounds in 41 regular-season games, 15 of them as a starter, Allen was better in the playoffs, averaging 6.3 points and 5.0 rebounds.

The 76ers announced Friday that they traded the draft rights to Tornike Shengelia, who was the 54th overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, to Brooklyn in exchange for cash considerations.  

More and more it seems that NBA teams are interested in players who have unstoppable motors. In other words, selfless players who bring a high level of intensity every night. The first two picks in Thursday night's NBA draft, Kentucky's Anthony Davis and UK teammate Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, of Somerdale, N.J., averaged just more than 26 points per game combined. Both need work on their offensive games, but they thrive on playing defense and never taking plays off. Davis is considered a future NBA all-star and defensive-player-of-the-year candidate and secured the top spot long ago. While it wasn't a total surprise that Kidd-Gilchrist went second, it was far from a foregone conclusion.

NEWARK, N.J. - Dion Waiters, the Syracuse sophomore guard from South Philadelphia, began his career as a frustrated reserve. But he completed a stunning turnaround by being selected as the No. 4 overall pick in Thursday's NBA draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Waiters, who takes pride in being a cool, calm, and collected gunslinger, was an admitted nervous wreck when the proceedings began with commissioner David Stern's opening comments to the crowd at the Prudential Center. "He said, 'Welcome to the NBA draft,' and my heart started beating 200 m.p.h., and that is when it really hit me," said Waiters, who played his last two high school seasons at Life Center in Burlington.

NEWARK, N.J. — After a long and controversial offseason, Dion Waiters is a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Although Waiters never started a game during his 2-year career at Syracuse, the Cavaliers selected the Philadelphia native with the fourth pick of the NBA draft Thursday night. The 6-4 guard averaged 12.6 points per game for the Orange last season. Waiters became one of the hot topics for NBA draft gurus this year after he left the NBA draft combine without working out and canceled the remainder of his private workouts and interviews.

NEWARK, N.J. - Kentucky was the king of college basketball in winning the NCAA tournament and the Wildcats showed the same dominance during Thursday's NBA draft at the Prudential Center. The Wildcats had the first two players chosen, the first time in NBA history that a school had the No. 1 and No. 2 overall selections. After the expected selection of freshman Anthony Davis as the first pick by the New Orleans Hornets, Somerdale, N.J., product Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, also a freshman from Kentucky, was selected second by the Charlotte Bobcats.

NEWARK, N.J. - It was a scene that was several years in the making: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, fashionably dressed in a navy blue suit, blue and white plaid shirt, and blue tie, went around the table embracing family members and friends. In his eyes you could see the jubilation after he obtained what many expected for the last five years. The 6-foot-7 forward, who left Kentucky after his freshman year, became an NBA lottery pick. Kidd-Gilchrist will play for the Charlotte Bobcats after being chosen with the second overall pick in Thursday's NBA draft at the Prudential Center.

NEW YORK — The weeks leading up to the NBA draft are often a stressful time for basketball's top prospects. Simply staying in shape often gives way to private workouts for a handful of NBA suitors and media appearances amid the speculation of where that player might be selected. Philadelphia native Dion Waiters has not taken this approach. In fact, he's stepped into the spotlight by stepping out of it. How many teams has the former Syracuse guard worked out for? "Zero," Waiters said.

When the 76ers make their first selection Thursday in the NBA draft, the player they add with the 15th overall pick will have been scrutinized by coaches and scouts for hundreds of hours. They will know, for the most part, every strength and weakness of his game. Though it knows what type of weak-side defender a player might be at the NBA level, none of the basketball brain trust will know how that player's mind works. That's why, when asked about a player's mental makeup and his personality, the response usually is about a player's "motor" or lack thereof.

DION WAITERS SYRACUSE Position: Guard Height, weight: 6-4, 215 Hometown: Philadelphia Relevant Stats: 12.6 points off the bench as a sophomore in 24.1 minutes. Breakdown: Zooming up draft charts. Lottery lock. Power guard who teams are comparing in style to Dwyane Wade. Improved long-range shooter. Seen as a very good pick-and-roll player. Could go as high as No. 5. -- MAALIK WAYNS VILLANOVA Position: Guard Height, weight: 6-2, 185 Hometown: Philadelphia Relevant Stats: 17.6 points as a junior Breakdown: Terrific penetrator with serious quickness.